History

London: Thomas Tegg, 1827. 2 volume set, 6 1/2 inches tall. A beautiful little Georgian full calf binding with gilt raised bands, extra gilt panels and contrasting maroon labels. Twin gilt fillets, triple blind fillets and blind corner tools frame the boards. An engraved title page in both volumes. This set covers the period " From the Earliest State to the Death of Alexander the Great". Oliver Goldsmith, novelist, poet and historian influenced later English authors Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, George Eliot, and Mary Shelley, all of whom mention his characters in their own novels. A delightful set.

London: John W. Parker and Son, 1858-1870. 12 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A splendid set in Victorian full straight grain calf with gilt raised bands and fine gilt tooling to the panels. Foxing to the preliminaries, then clean. The 12 volume set is divided into two sets of 6 volumes both entitled 'The Fall of Wolsey to the Death of Elizabeth'. Portrait. A fine Country House set from the Library of Bridehead in Dorset.

London: T. Caddell, 1822. 10 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A very smart country house set in full Georgian blue straight grain calf with wide gilt raised bands and ornate gilt tooling to the panels. There is an armorial device on the boards, framed within a wide blind roll and twin gilt fillets. With the Fothergill bookplate of the library from which the books were recently dispersed. Although perfectly smart on the shelf and with no splitting and with a clean text, many of the boards have evidence of being nibbled by long defunct insects. An early octavo edition in a very good looking, though blemished, Georgian full calf binding.

London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, 1848. 3 volume set, 9 inches tall. A remarkable Victorian full mottled extra gilt calf binding. We have never seen a binding quite like it, with gilt raised bands, twin labels, the volume labels being extraordinarily ornate and with very fine extra gilt panels. Gilt dentelles and all edges. A neat ink inscription 'on leaving Eton, 1866' on the first black. Slight foxing to the preliminaries, otherwise clean, the bindings themselves are in pristine condition.

London: Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green, 1865-1861. 5 volume set, 8 3/4 inches tall. A splendid Victorian full calf by Bickers with gilt raised bands, twin labels and very fine gilt tooling to the panels. The title labels are slightly faded but still bright and good looking. With bookplate. Slight foxing to the preliminaries then clean. A most handsome set of this classic history of England.

Cologne: Chez Pierre du Marteau, 1666. 2 volume set, 5 1/2 inches tall. A splendid later, 19th century, full straight grain calf with raised bands and gilt pallets. Star corner tools and twin gilt fillets frame the boards. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With the armorial bookplate of Helen de Guerry Simpson. An interesting early biography of this great 17th century French prelate and statesman who wielded enormous influence in civil and religious affairs. In the original French.

London: Printed by T. Bensley, for J. White et al., 1809. 3 volume set, 8 1/4 inches tall. A remarkable Regency full 'russia' diced calf in superb condition with gilt raised bands, and exceptionally fine gilt tooling in the head and tail panels. Twin gilt fillets and a gilt roll frame the diced boards. This set is embellished with 37 engraved portraits. Some offsetting from the plates. "The book is the most entertaining of contemporary memoirs, in no other book is there a description so vivid, truthful and graceful of the licentious court of Charles II.....Grammont's scandalous tongue knew no restraint....". (Ency.Brit.). A superb set of this classic work.

London: Richard Bentley, 1890. 2 volume set, 8 inches tall. An extra-illustrated set in an elegant binding, though expertly re-backed with gilt bands, triple labels and fine gilt tooling to the panels. The boards are framed within a twin gilt fillet and a wide blind roll. With a total of 28 plates. A good looking set of one of Lady Jackson's studies of the Court and characters of French History.

London: Scott, Webster, & Geary, 1839. 4 volume set, 9 inches tall. In a magnificent Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels and superb extra-gilt tooling to the panels. Twin gilt fillets frame the boards. With an engraved frontispiece and 22 engraved portraits. Slight foxing to the plates and the preliminaries, otherwise clean. From the library of George Capron of Southwick Hall. An extremely smart set of this classic history of the Reformation of the Church of England by this great historian, philosopher and theologian.

London: A.Strahan and T. Cadell, 1795. 3 volume set, 11 inches tall. A very good looking tall 18th century tree calf with gilt pallets and twin labels. Blue speckled edges. First editions from Rockcorry Castle in Ireland, sadly demolished in the 1950s, with neat ink inscription running vertically on the title pages 'Rock Corry Castle 1828'. There is some rubbing, superficial loss to long defunct insect and minor splitting to the binding, which remains firm and solid. Wraxall's great history covers the period from 'The Accession of Henry the Third, to the Death of Louis the Fourteenth'.

London: John Murray, 1813. 3 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A superb set, fresh from an English Country House, of this scarce history in Regency tree calf with gilt pallets and fine title labels. Speckled edges. With an armorial bookplate and the neat ink former owner's name at the head of the title pages, 'James F. Leitch'. Some scuffing and superficial scratches, overall a lovely set of this history in English, translated from the French.

London: Virtue and Co., 1888. 4 volume set, 10 3/4 inches tall. A handsome set of this popular history in a Victorian half calf with wide gilt raised bands, label and gilt and blind pallets. Some rubbing. With full page engraved plates and engraved vignettes to every page.

London: Methuen & Co., 1896. 7 volume set, 8 1/2 inches tall. A really elegant Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands and extra gilt panels around an 'Eagle of Jove (Aëtos)' centre tool. Three gilt fillets frame the boards, the upper boards bearing the gilt blocked crest of Oriel College, Oxford. Gilt dentelles and all edges. With the armorial bookplate of Harold Hamilton Broadmead of Enmore Castle. An exceptionally clean and smart set of Gibbon's 'Decline and Fall', one of the greatest histories ever written.

London: Longmans, Green, Reader, & Dyer, 1877. 2 volume set, 7 1/2 inches tall. A great history in a classic Victorian full calf with gilt raised bands, twin labels fine floral gilt tooling to the panels. There is a gilt prize block on the upper boards and a 'prize bookplate' on the inner paste down of volume 1. This is a popular edition of this history which covers the period "from the Accession of James the Second" to the Reign of Queen Victoria, and, as such, has very small type. Scratch on the lower board of the first volume but still a lovely looking set.

London Hutchinson & Co. and Stanley, Paul & Co., 1903-1914. 13 volume collection, 8 1/2 inches tall. A good looking Edwardian half morocco by the great London firm of bookbinders, Sangorski and Sutcliffe, for Brentano's of New York. With gilt raised bands, neat gilt tooled panels around a fleure des lys centre tool and gilt top edges. There is rubbing and a certain blotchiness to the spines, but this a still a very presentable collection of some very scarce and highly entertaining titles, in fact we couldn't find another run of these works. Illustrated throughout. Andrew C.P. Haggard was the brother of the immensely successful novelist H. Rider Haggard.

Anvers: P.Tessaro, c.1850. Half morocco, 10 1/4 inches tall. A rather splendid binding with elaborate gilding in the Cathedral style on the smooth spine. With the following inscription on the first blank: "A Monsieur J.P. Willeumier hommage de l'auteur E. Le Poittevin de la Croix". Slightly rubbed, foxing to the preliminaries, then clean. In the original French.